Letter from EBLEX - Climate Change

Dear Sir,

With all eyes on Copenhagen and climate change being the topic of the hour, it is unfortunate that agriculture has become a convenient scapegoat for those looking to apportion blame.

Livestock production does contribute to greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. As an industry, we are tackling these issues head-on and last week EBLEX launched the beef and sheep production roadmap Change in the Air to show producers how to cut their emissions.

However, it is vital to keep a sense of perspective to avoid agriculture becoming an industry to which other sectors seek to switch the burden of blame and divert attention away from their own environmental performance. It is also important to be wary of the climate change issue being hijacked by those with alternative agendas in a bid to further their own cause.

This was never more apparent than in the unfortunate edition of The One Show this week (Monday, December 07). An ill-informed piece from vegetarian Lucy Siegle contained a raft of sweeping generalisations and inaccuracies. The result was, in what purported to be a factual programme on a station previously renowned for its sense of balance in editorial content, a soapbox for the vegetarian lobby laying the blame for global warming firmly at the door of domestic agriculture. We did not realise the BBC had adopted an editorial policy of encouraging the population to eat less meat.

The suggestion that eating less meat alone is going to save the planet is ridiculous when put into the context of other pollutants. In the UK, emissions from electricity, heating and transport account for around 70% of all GHG emissions. And with the Committee on Climate Change now suggesting we could take more flights and still meet environmental targets, does it not leave sweeping statements about not eating meat being the only way to save the planet looking slightly silly?

The globally quoted figure is that livestock production contributes 18% of our GHG emissions. However, this figure takes into account areas of the world with significantly less efficient production systems than those in the UK. In addition, a third of that figure is due to the effect of deforestation and desertification being factored in – neither of which are issues that affect livestock production in the UK.

UK Inventory figures show that the UK agriculture contribution as a whole is closer to 7% with 5% attributable directly to livestock production, chiefly cattle, sheep and pigs. As an industry, we have reduced our emissions by more than 20% since 1990 and continually strive to reduce them further. These figures paint the true picture.

The reality is that in the UK, because of our climate, geography and expertise, we have one of the most efficient livestock production industries in the world.

The English beef and sheep meat production sector leads the way in research and technology transfer to ensure more efficient ways of working are shared with others for the benefit of all. To continually blame English farmers for 18% of all emissions and suggest that cutting back on eating meat or reducing the national herd  is a sensible way of combating climate change is not just unfair, but misleading.

We all need to eat, so agriculture is an essential industry. Livestock systems allow a harvest to be taken from some hard-to-manage environments and pasture is a valuable carbon sink, making best use of available resources to feed a growing population. Therefore a sensible, holistic approach to the challenges ahead needs to come out of Copenhagen – and an acknowledgment of the agriculture sector’s leading role in efforts to improve efficiency and reduce emissions is the least we should expect.

John Cross
Chairman, EBLEX (English Beef and Lamb Executive)